Obama and Cuba: Should he stay or should he go?

Despite what a number of hardline, pro-embargo voices would have you believe, President Barack Obama’s executive actions to loosen the embargo are a long-term bet in favor of human rights and political change in Cuba. That the Cuban regime continues to deny its citizens’ basic civil and political rights and to round up dissidents a little more than a year after the changes is not an indictment of Obama’s policy or his long-term strategy for shaping Cuba’s future. But it does raise the question, should the President go to Cuba when the Cuban government has done little to open up political space and improve human rights, one of the stated objectives of the White House’s policy change?

While progress has been made in U.S.-Cuba cooperation on migration, human trafficking, anti-narcotics, and the environment, human rights remain a tender subject. In announcing the President’s visit, senior Cuban diplomat and point-person for all things U.S. Josefina Vidal made a not-so-subtle comment that the U.S. and Cuba have different views on human rights. Indeed, despite the Cuban government’s recent concession to allow a handful of former political prisoners to travel outside the island, the Castros‘ intolerance toward freedom of expression and political and civil rights is unchanged. While the number of political prisoners held in Cuban jails has shrunk down to between 40 and 60 (from well over 200 a few years ago), according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, in January alone, more than 1,400 dissidents and human rights activists were briefly detained, with 56 of them subjected to physical abuse. Nor has the Cuban government allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the country’s prisons, a condition allegedly required for the normalization of relations.

The mere fact of a President going to a country isn’t a Good Housekeeping seal of approval of a government’s behavior. Instead, it can be used to send a strong signal of solidarity with local citizens, rather than an endorsement of the receiving government. If it’s done right.

If the President doesn’t use the trip as an opportunity to speak directly to the Cuban people it will not just be a lost opportunity, it will be a stain on the Cuba legacy that he so desperately wants to leave. That doesn’t mean publicly harassing or squeezing specific concessions from the Cuban government before or after the trip. In fact, as anyone who has worked with Cubans can tell you, trying to do so would fail publicly and miserably. One of the things the Cuban government most wants to get out this trip is to be treated with respect—and after decades of name calling and ridiculous plots to invade their country by proxy, kill their leader, sow discontent, and even kill innocent Cuban citizens (all plans either hatched by the U.S. or former CIA operatives)—one can understand the importance they place on it.

Rather than publicly lecturing Cuban officials about democracy, the President needs to deal in subtle messages and gestures to the Cuban officials and, most importantly, to the Cuban people anxious to see and potentially meet not only a U.S. president but the first U.S. black president.

Here are a few recommendations or things to watch for:

First, there are a number of talented and objective independent journalists and news outlets in Cuba, including 14ymedio and the reporters for CubaNet—neither officially recognized by the Cuban government, which has its own propaganda mouthpieces. The White House should provide credentials for journalists from both organizations to accompany him on his travels around the capital, even granting them exclusive interviews.

Second, impromptu, spontaneous stops of the presidential motorcade to mingle with Cubans should be standard. (With allowances, of course, for security.) As the popular reaction on the island to the December 17, 2014 executive changes and the number of Obama t-shirts seen on the streets demonstrate, the President remains very popular on the island. Even Raúl Castro couldn’t help praising him at the Summit of the Americas in Panama. Arguably, Obama is more of a rock star in Cuba than the aging 1960s rockers who will be giving a free concert in Havana on March 25th.

Third, when he’s in Cuba within the next few weeks, Secretary of State John Kerry should push for the same thing that former President Jimmy Carter got when he was in Cuba in 2002: a chance for Obama to speak on Cuban television, without censorship, directly to the Cuban people. It was a powerful moment when President Carter did it, using the opportunity to mention the late Oswaldo Paya’s Varela Project—a petition campaign that called for a constitutional referendum on Cuba’s future. It would be a beautiful and fitting tribute to the courageous Paya who later died under mysterious circumstances.

And yes, quietly and behind closed doors, Secretary Kerry and President Obama should press for the Cuban government to make good on allowing credible international monitors, such as the ICRC or the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, to come to Cuba to visit the country’s prisons and to assess the country’s human rights situation. Doing so will not only help justify Obama’s trip, it will also signal a big step in the country’s re-integration into the global order.

President Obama has an historic opportunity to speak to the Cuban people about shared values and vision of Cubans and Americans alike, beyond the Cold War ideology and antagonism that has divided us for more than a half century. For decades now, an embattled and intolerant Cuban government has justified its repression by using the U.S. as the enemy. This is Obama’s chance to turn the page on that sad history and to demonstrate that Cuba’s future is for the Cubans to decide.

Get Weekly Summaries

Email

Interested in an Internship with Global Americans?

Our ideal candidate is a driven and curious person who is willing to work on social media, learn how to edit op-eds and conduct research on different topics. You must be located in NYC, available 10-20 hours per week and able to speak, write and edit in both English and Spanish. If interested please send a cover letter and resume.